Sevilla

Sevilla Foot-Ball Club, as it was first called, was founded in 1890 by British citizens of the city. When, in March of that year, they beat Huelva, 2-0, it was the first official match played in Spain.

Even as other Andalucian clubs were formed, including their great rivals Real Betis, Sevilla dominated local and regional competitions, and in 1935 they became the first club from their region to the Copa del Rey, then called the Copa de España. By then they had already made the First Division, as well, and they stayed there until 1968.

The highlight is their only league championship in the 1945-46 season, after finishing second and third the two seasons before; they also added a Copa in 1948. The president in those days was Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, who died suddenly in 1956 and for whom the new (and current) stadium was named.

The building of that stadium led to financial difficulties and the sale of top players, and by the 1970s Sevilla spent some time in the second division. But they rebuilt in the 1990s, and by the 2000s they would begin to establish their current reputation: winning secondary European competitions.

It started with the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) in 2006, when they beat Middlesbrough in the Final in Eindhoven, Netherlands. They added the UEFA Super Cup, beating Barcelona in the Final in Monaco, then that season they won the UEFA Cup again, this time beating Espanyol in Glasgow.

They won it for a third time in 2014, under manager Unai Emery, then again in 2015 and 2016, becoming the first (and still only) team to win it five times. Emery moved on to PSG, but Sevilla made a nice run in the 2017-18 Champions League — beating Manchester United to reach the quarterfinals, where they lost to Bayern Munich.

Two years later, during Covid in 2020, they again took out Manchester United, this time in the Europa semifinals, and went on to beat Inter Milan in a Cologne final, 3-2, for their record-extending sixth win in that competition.

Still, in all that time, they never finished higher than third in La Liga, such is the stranglehold of Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top.

Sevilla extended their dominance in the Europa League during the 2022-23 season with a victory over Roma to claim their seventh Europa League trophy and their 5th in 10 years.

2022–23 SEASON: 12th in La Liga, quarterfinal Copa del Rey, Group Stage Champions League, Europa League Champions

2023–24 SEASON: La Liga (since 2001), Champions League.

Sevilla shares the Seville Derby, or simply El Gran Derbi, with neighbors Real Betis, whose stadium is just 2.5 miles away. It is among the most intense in Spain, and known all over Europe for its atmosphere.

Historically, Sevilla and its Nervión neighborhood are associated with a more affluent class than Betis and its Heliopolis area, but those distinctions don’t matter so much anymore. Certainly, Sevilla is the more successful club, both in the derby — with 65 wins in 138 meetings as of 2023 — and in other competitions. So there is a big brother / little brother vibe about it.

We have been to one of these games, at Betis, and it was something else. The only thing holding it back these days is that the number of away supporters is limited to a few hundred, presumably by the police, who escort the visitors down closed streets and through a gauntlet of flares, flung beers, and curses which we’d prefer not to even share here.

Since Groundhopper Guides sells tickets to both Sevilla (see below) and to Real Betis (here), we really think you should make it a point to see this game sometime in your life.

At the Seville Derby: Look Out when the Rocket Lands

Sometimes, in the middle of a big crowd, during a big game, in a stadium filled with emotion and a city gone briefly mad, there are some very fine lines to walk. So when somebody lands a rocket in the...

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Sevilla Fútbol Club Femenino was founded in 2008 and rose quickly through the regional leagues, winning the second division in 2017. They have been in Liga F, the top tier, ever since.

Home games are at Estadio Jesús Navas, an 8,000-seater at the club’s training facility.

Check the club’s website for fixture information.

The club actually has two anthems, one dating from 1983 and the other from 2005, when they celebrated their centenary.

The lyrics to each can be found on a supporters’ website at sevillistas101.com/himnos.

This is the traditional one:

The far more famous one is the centenary song, here from a Champions League game against Liverpool:

The Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán is a simple, two-tiered affair with 43,000 seats, tucked right into a neighborhood with houses and bars across each street. It opened in 1958 with capacity of 77,000. In the 1982 World Cup, it hosted two group games and a semifinal (Brazil 4, New Zealand 0).

It also hosted the 1982 European Cup (now Champions League) Final and the 2022 Europa League Final.

In international competition, Spain has never lost a game there.

In the 1990s it became an all-seater, reducing capacity to its current 43,000, but also making it a very modern and comfortable place. The outside is pretty spectacular, especially considering the ordinary apartment buildings that surround it.

TOURS: Self-guided tours are available Thursday through Sunday, unless there’s a game. See the club’s website for more.

GETTING THERE: There’s a Metro stop called Nervión about a block away; reach that on Line 1 from Puerta Jerez at the south end of the city’s main tourist district. The bus stop across the street from the stadium is Eduardo Dato. You can also walk it from the tourist center in about half an hour.

PUBS: The most happening place we saw near the stadium was Cervecería Europa, a block or two away. They serve food and lots of beers, and their outdoor patio is the hub of a big street scene.

GRUB: Nothing near the stadium really stood out, and Spanish stadium food is basically chips and nuts, so just hit one of the many spots in the city center.

AROUND TOWN: Seville is one of Europe’s most famous tourist cities, and for good reason. We won’t even attempt a guide, except to say our favorite tapas were at Bar Baratillo, over near the bullring — which is also worth a tour. Otherwise, get a walking and/or food tour from a local and pick their brain for suggestions.

Get some churros and some tapas, take a walking tour, go to the top of Las Setas,